Trumpf’s Reign of Terror Reaches New Horrific Lows

Followers of the Watch, there is much to cover and little time, so let’s get started right away. Simply put, within two short months Dotard Trumpf has turned America into a Rogue State and an International Pariah. So, which despicable act to begin with?

Trumpf Rejects Mexico’s Request for Water in Tijuana

The US has refused a request by Mexico for water, alleging shortfalls in sharing by its southern neighbor. This was the first time that the US had rejected a request by Mexico for special delivery of water, which would have gone to the border city of Tijuana.

“Mexico’s continued shortfalls in its water deliveries under the 1944 water-sharing treaty are decimating American agriculture – particularly farmers in the Rio Grande valley,” the State Department’s alleged.

The 1944 treaty, which governs water allocation from the Rio Grande and Colorado River, has come under growing strain in recent years due to the pressures of the climate crisis and the burgeoning populations and agriculture in parched areas.

Trumpf Expels South Africa’s Ambassador to US

South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool on left.

Describing him as a “race-baiting politician,” USSECSTATE Marco Rubio expelled South Africa’s ambassador to Washington. In a post on X, Rubio accused Ebrahim Rasool of hating the US and President Donald Trumpf, and said the ambassador was “no longer welcome in our great country.” The rare move by the US marks the latest development in rising tensions between the two countries. Pretoria may reciprocate. The manifestly underqualified Marco Rubio is America’s top diplomat.

DHS Revokes Legal Status of 532,000 Haitians and Latin Americans

The Department of Homeland Security said that it will revoke legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, setting them up for potential deportation in April. These refugees came to the US legally, playing by the rules, doing everything that was required of them by the Federal Government.

The order applies to about 532,000 people from the four countries who came to the US since Oct 2022. They arrived with financial sponsors and were given two-year permits to live and work in the US. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they will lose their legal status on 24 Apr, or 30 days after the publication of the notice in the Federal Register.

This is the same Kristi Noem who proudly admitted in her autobiography to killing an undisciplined puppy. This psychopath is prohibited from entering indigenous reservations in her home state of South Dakota.

Trumpf Planning Another Travel Ban

Trumpf is considering a new travel ban that could affect citizens from up to 43 countries, meant to address “national security and public safety threats.” Citizens from the 11 countries in the “red” category would be entirely barred from entering the US. These countries include Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Countries in the “orange” category would affect immigrant, tourist and student visas, with some exception. The list consists of Belarus, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Turkmenistan.

ICE and DHS have been detaining pro-Palestinian college students on visas who demonstrated in 2024 or express anti-Israeli sentiments, in violation of the US Constitution guaranteeing free speech.

Trumpf needn’t be concerned about issuing a travel ban. An exodus of both people and capital from the US is taking place. Besides, refugees leaving these places to escape political violence can easily be killed in the firearm death epidemic plaguing the US, so why would they come to America?

Foreigners, Tourists Terrified of US Police State

Despite being lawful permanent residents of the US, legal immigrants with green cards are starting to panic about being kicked out of the country by the Trumpf administration. “If I were not a citizen, I would think long and hard before I traveled. And that includes green card holders,” said immigration attorney David Leopold. Germany issued a travel advisory to its citizens traveling to US to make sure their paperwork is in order. A handful of Germans have already been detained by ICE, in addition to some Canadians. International travel agents have been urging their clients to avoid the US. Canadians have begun their boycott of American products and travel to the US. Canadian tourist spending in the US totaled $20.5 billion in 2024; a 10% drop risks $2.1 billion and 140,000 jobs.

Grandparents and Orange County ex-residents Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez (Photo: Social media)

Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez came to the US from Colombia without authorization some 35 years ago, raised three daughters and now have a new grandson. The couple was deported to Colombia earlier this week after living in California and paying taxes for 35 years, living the so-called “American dream.” This punishment is the equivalent of firing a cannonball at a housefly.

Trumpf Rescinds Security Clearances of Prominent Democrats

Trumpf speaking to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, on 21 Mar. (Photo: Bryan Dozier / /Middle East Images /AFP / Getty)

Trumpf rescinded the security clearances of Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, several members of the Biden administration, and other prominent Democrats. Trumpf had already revoked Joe Biden’s security clearance. Previous victims of Godzilla’s rampage: Antony Blinken, Adam Kinzinger, LTC Alexander Vindman (Ret), NYAG Letitia James, NY DA Alvin Bragg, Gen Mark Milley, Jake Sullivan, Elizabeth Cheney, Fiona Hill, Lisa Monaco, former US Ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman Eisen, and attorney Mark Zaid. Trumpf also revoked the USSS protective detail for Hunter and Ashley Biden, Joe’s surviving adult children.

Trumpf’s vindictiveness impairs these people to work again in the USG as contractors, employees, or political figures. Removing the USSS detail from Biden’s adult children may imperil them from lunatics because of all the hatred Republicans generated against the Bidens these past several years.

Trumpf, to please his white supremacist Republican followers and himself, is bleaching the US of people of color. At the same time, America’s Godzilla is recklessly damaging America’s economy and reputation, something that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to see. Trumpf is maliciously killing two birds with one stone.

Citations:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/20/tijuana-mexico-water-trump

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/california/2025/03/08/army-corps-knew-trumps-california-water-release-order-was-a-waste/82055516007/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmj8ky3rvno

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-humanitarian-parole-china-haiti-nicaragua-venezuela-c10f422939934cf8d1cf8a6f4dfc4610

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/22/us/green-card-visa-holders-deportation-fears-cec

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/03/19/Germany-foreign-ministry-travel/9601742398245/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-revokes-security-clearances-of-kamala-harris-hillary-clinton-and-other-prominent-dems/

https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-trump-secret-service-ashley-50eba3fcd1ef9d2580fb4bc464d229f6

https://www.salon.com/2025/03/22/a-pivot-moment-some-travel-agents-are-now-urging-their-clients-to-avoid-the-united-states/

Trumpf Debases US With $5m “Gold” Immigration Cards for Oligarchs

Arch-goniff and billionaire Howard Lutnick, Trumpf’s Commerce Secretary, announced that he secured $5 billion in a single day by selling 1,000 immigration gold cards, each valued at $5 million. Lutnick said that with a market of 37 million potential buyers, Trumpf is confident they can generate at least $5 trillion by selling one million of these exclusive cards.

Billionaire Howard Lutnick claimed that “real Americans” like his 94-year-old mother-in-law won’t complain if they miss a social security check one month because of clerical error.

Citations:

https://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/commerce-secretary-howard-lutnick-says-us-sells-1000-gold-cards-in-a-day-raising-5-billion/3784494/

 corporate-prosecution-registry.com

Jessica Aber (43) Who Investigated Russian Criminals Found Dead in Virginia

Former US Attorney Jessica Aber (43) was found dead at her Virginia residence Saturday morning. Police responded to a call about an “unresponsive woman” and have launched an investigation. Aber, who resigned in January after serving since 2021, was hailed as an “irreplaceable” leader and prosecutor. The cause of death is yet to be determined by the chief medical examiner. Authorities have not revealed any signs of foul play but continue to examine the circumstances surrounding her sudden passing.

Citation:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/former-us-attorney-jessica-aber-found-dead-virginia/story?id=120064277

INTERPOL Solves Spanish Cold Case

INTERPOL informs:

“A woman who died in unexplained circumstances in Spain has been identified as 33-year-old Ainoha Izaga Ibieta Lima, from Paraguay. This was the first successful trans-continental identification made as part of INTERPOL’s Identify Me program.

The international cold case campaign, coordinated by INTERPOL with six European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain), aims to seek the public’s help in identifying 46 women whose bodies were found in Europe over recent decades.

One of those cases, submitted by Spanish authorities, related to an unidentified female discovered in the province of Girona, Spain, on 6 Aug 2018. The woman was found hanging in a poultry shed attached to a farmhouse. She was not carrying any identity papers and no one in the area knew who she was, or how she got there. The victim had a tattoo on her left forearm of the word ‘success’ in Hebrew. Despite extensive investigations by local police, the woman was never identified.

A breakthrough came in March 2025 when Paraguayan authorities matched fingerprints uploaded by Spain to INTERPOL’s Black Notice against their own national databases, as part of the Identify Me initiative.

The first round of Identify Me, launched in 2023, also yielded noteworthy results, with the identification of Rita Roberts, a British woman who was found murdered in Antwerp in 1992. The family of Rita Roberts contacted the appeal hotline after they recognized their relative’s tattoo from news coverage of the campaign.

Identify Me is the first time INTERPOL has released public extracts from Black Notices, which are used to seek information internationally on unidentified bodies and to determine the circumstances surrounding a death. Black Notices can include information on the location where the body was found, biometric information (DNA, fingerprints, facial images), dental charts, physical descriptions of the body or clothing and any other details relevant to identifying the deceased.”

Now that Spanish and Paraguayan police have brought closure to Ms. Lima’s family, they now have a better chance of discovering whether she committed suicide or was murdered.

Citation:

https://www.interpol.int/News-and-Events/News/2025/Spanish-cold-case-resolved-through-international-public-appeal

Russia Targets Odessa During Czech President’s Visit

Czech President Petr Pavel (L), Ukraine Deputy PM Okeksii Kuleba (R) (Photo: Social media)

Russia launched three waves of Shahed-type drones on Odessa during a visit to the city by Czech President Petr Pavel on 20 Mar. Three people were injured during the attack and civilian infrastructure was damaged. Last year Putin launched a missile strike on Odessa which landed danger-close to visiting Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“The entire civilized world should see Russia’s crimes against Ukraine,” Ukraine Deputy PM Okeksii Kuleba said.

A UN report recently condemned Russian’s actions against the children of Ukraine:

“Between 24 Feb 2022 and 31 Dec 2024, 669 children were killed and 1,833 injured, many as a result of the extensive use of explosive weapons in populated areas. Of these, 521 were killed and 1,529 injured in territory controlled by Ukraine, and 148 were killed and 304 injured in currently occupied territory. The actual numbers are likely much higher. As of Dec 2024, an estimated 737,000 children had been internally displaced by the hostilities. A further 1.7 million were refugees, many of them separated from a parent, usually their father.” 

An international arrest warrant remains active for Russian President Vladimir Putin (and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu), despite Trumpf’s sanctions against the ICC.

Citations:

https://kyivindependent.com/russia-hits-odesa-with-drones-during-visit-of-czech-president-petr-pavel/

 www.dailymail.co.uk

https://www.unognewsroom.org/story/en/2591/un-report-details-devastating-impact-of-hostilities-on-children-in-ukraine

67,042 Afrikaners Interested in Trumpf Re-Settlement Plan

Afrikaners outside US Mission in South Africa. (Photo: Social media)

The US Embassy in South Africa received a list of 67,042 Afrikaners interested in refugee status under Trump’s plan to relocate them in the US. The list was given to the embassy by the South African Chamber of Commerce in the US, which said it became a point of contact for white South Africans asking about the program announced by the Trumpf administration last month. The chamber said the list does not constitute official applications.

South Africa has the second highest rate of gun ownership in Africa, so these Afrikaners will fit in perfectly with America. Red States like Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, or Texas will be perfect for them.

Citations:

https://apnews.com/article/trump-white-refugee-afrikaner-south-africa-0fbca411470d3b439886cabc12c7600d

za.usembassy.gov

Senior FBI Agent Arrested for Disclosing Confidential Records

Senior FBI SA Jonathan Buma (Undated photo from public domain)

A senior FBI agent has been charged with unlawfully taking and disclosing classified FBI files. Johnathan Buma, who specialized in national security and terror cases, has been released on $100,000 bond, with orders to appear in court in Los Angeles. Buma was arrested as he boarded an international flight at JFK airport in NY. He allegedly printed of caches of FBI records from an internal agency network. Nearly 130 files might have been compromised. A Trumpf critic, Buma previously testified to Congress about the political investigations (witch hunts) against Hunter Biden, as well as Russian oligarchs (see bottom link).

Citations:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/longtime-fbi-agent-charged-disclosing-classified-records/

www.documentcloud.org

US Warzone: Three Dead, 15 Wounded in New Mexico Mass Shooting

Three suspects, including two 17-year-old boys, have been arrested and charged with multiple counts of murder stemming from a mass shooting that left three teenagers dead and 15 other people injured at an unsanctioned car show at a park in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

In an average year, 507 people die and 821 are wounded by guns in New Mexico, which has the 9th-highest rate of gun violence in the US. The attack sounded like a warzone firefight:

US Army medic readying life-saving plasma.

Citations:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/new-mexico-police-investigating-mass-shooting-las-cruces/story?id=120052341

Black Bear Gently Closes Door With Mouth

Apparently these two know each other pretty well. This took place on 7 Mar 2025 in Bergenfield, NJ.

IDF Airstrikes Kill 14 in Gaza Strip as American Activist is Buried in Turkiye

Palestinians gather amid the rubble near a fuel tank damaged in IDF bombing in Gaza City on 14 Sep 2024.

Israeli airstrikes hit central and southern Gaza overnight into Saturday, killing at least 14 people as friends and family members of a Turkish-American activist killed by an Israeli soldier honored her in a funeral in Turkiye.

The airstrikes in Gaza City hit one home housing 11 people, including three women and four children, and another strike hit a tent in Khan Younis with displaced Palestinians. The attacks followed airstrikes earlier this week that hit a tent camp on Tuesday and a UN school sheltering displaced people on Wednesday.

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio slowed down. The WHO reported that about 559,000 people under the age of 10 — seven out of every eight children the campaign aimed to vaccinate — have recovered from their first dose. The second doses are expected to begin later this month.

Relatives, officials, and others look at the coffin of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi (26) during her funeral ceremony at a mosque in Aydin Province, Turkiye, on 14 Sep 2024. She was shot and killed by the IDF in the occupied West Bank.

The war has caused vast destruction and displaced roughly 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times, and plunged the territory into a severe humanitarian crisis. Gaza’s Health Ministry reports over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, adding women and children make up just over half of the dead.

Source:

Israel strikes Gaza as American activist killed by Israeli fire is buried (voanews.com)

Russia’s Medvedev Threatens Nuclear Strike Would Turn Kiev into ‘Gray Spot’ on the Map

Former Russian President and current Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has hiked Moscow’s threat of the nuclear option. Vladimir Putin controls about 5,977 nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, recently warned that Kiev could be turned into a “gray melted spot” if restrictions against Ukraine’s use of Western weapons were loosened.

Russian officials have threatened that a possible decision by the West to allow Kiev to use donated weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory would result in a major escalation of its war against Ukraine that could include the use of nuclear weapons.

Kiev has repeatedly said it needs to be able to conduct longer-range strikes into Russian territory to defend itself against invading Russian forces.

In an apparent reference to a recent US-UK summit, Medvedev wrote that “the Anglo-Saxon imbeciles” do not want to admit that there is an end to Russia’s “patience” and that experts who have suggested Russia could resort to using nuclear weapons against Ukraine would be proven correct if that patience is exhausted.

“What do Western leaders and their political establishments, playing at war, think our country’s reaction to probable missile strikes ‘deep into the territory [of Russia]’ would be?” wrote Medvedev, who has frequently used his position to voice threats against Kiev and the West since Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Medvedev said a nuclear conflict is a “very bad story with a very difficult outcome,” claiming that is why Russia has not decided to use “nonstrategic or strategic” nuclear weapons so far. However, he said, if it came to that there would be a “giant gray melted spot” on the site of Kiev, which he called the “mother city of Russia.”

Recent media reports claim Russia received Fath-360 missile systems from Iran. These missiles have an effective range of 19-75 miles and can carry a 330-lb warhead filled with high explosives.

Source:

Russia’s Medvedev Threatens Nuke Strike Would Turn Kyiv Into ‘Gray Spot’ On The Map (rferl.org)

Venezuela Arrests US and Spanish Citizens Over Alleged ‘Plot’

Three US citizens, two Spaniards and one Czech citizen were arrested in Venezuela for allegedly plotting to destabilize the country. Reportedly, hundreds of weapons had been seized and the detainees were plotting to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other top officials. The Spaniards were detained in Puerto Ayacucho, south of the capital Caracas.

The arrests come two days after Washington sanctioned 16 Venezuelan officials who are closely aligned with President Maduro, following his disputed election victory in July.

The Venezuelan government alleged the detained Spaniards are linked to Madrid’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI). However, Spanish government sources denied the two belong to the intelligence organization.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello alleged “the CIA is leading this operation, and that does not surprise us but they, the National Intelligence Centre of Spain, have always maintained a low profile knowing that the CIA operates in this area. These two detainees even tell us about a group of mercenaries they are looking for to bring to Venezuela with very clear objectives to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, myself, and another group of comrades who are leading our party and our revolution.”

The US has rejected the accusations.

Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of July’s presidential election by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), which is closely aligned with the government. But the CNE has not published any detailed voting tallies supporting a Maduro victory. Data published by the opposition suggests its candidate, Edmundo González, won instead.

Sources:

Venezuela arrests US and Spanish citizens over ‘plot’ (bbc.com)

Former CIA Employee Sentenced Ten Years in Prison for Spying for China

A screenshot from a video by an FBI undercover agent taken of Alexander Yuk Ching Ma in Jan 2019 during a meeting. (Photo: AP)

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma (71) of Honolulu, a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee, was sentenced to ten years confinement and five years of supervised release for conspiring to gather and deliver national defense information to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

Ma was arrested in August 2020, after admitting to an undercover FBI agent that he had facilitated the provision of classified information to intelligence officers employed by the PRC’s Shanghai State Security Bureau (SSSB).

Ma worked for the CIA from 1982 until 1989. His brother, who is now deceased, also worked for the CIA from 1967 until 1983. As CIA employees, both men held Top Secret security clearances that granted them access to sensitive and classified information, and both signed nondisclosure agreements.

After Ma and his brother were recruited by the SSSB, they provided Chinese intelligence officers with a “large volume of classified and sensitive information.” They were paid $50,000 in cash; an hourlong video showed Ma counting the money. Two years later, Ma applied for a job as a contract linguist in the FBI’s Honolulu field office. By then, US intelligence knew he was collaborating with Chinese intelligence officers, and they hired him in 2004 so they could keep an eye on his espionage activities.

Over the next six years, Ma regularly copied, photographed, and stole classified documents. He often took them on trips to China, returning with thousands of dollars in cash and expensive gifts, including a new set of golf clubs.

At one point in 2006, his handlers at the Shanghai state security bureau asked Ma to get his brother to help identify four people in photographs, and the brother did identify two of them. The fate of those he identified are not known.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ma confessed that he knowingly and willfully conspired with SSSB intelligence officers to communicate and transmit information that he knew would be used to injure the US or to advantage the PRC. Further, Ma must cooperate with the US and undergo polygraph tests for the rest of his life, as well as submit to debriefings by the USIC. Prosecutors told the court that Ma has been cooperative and has taken part in multiple interview sessions with government investigators.

Alexander Yuk Ching Ma (USMS# 12272-122) is incarcerated at FDC Honolulu, an administrative security federal detention center in Hawaii.

Sources:

Office of Public Affairs | Former CIA Officer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Conspiracy to Commit Espionage | United States Department of Justice

Former CIA officer sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying for China | Espionage | The Guardian

‘Catastrophe’ as Central Europe Deals with Deadly Floods

Flooding overwhelmed Slobozia Conachi, Romania (Photo: BBC)

In Glucholazy, southern Poland, firefighters built sandbag barriers to protect residents near the river. (Photo: BBC)

The flooded village of Krosnowice, southern Poland. (Photo: BBC)

Emergency services are shoring up flood defenses in central and eastern Europe after torrential rainfall caused by Storm Boris swelled rivers and damaged thousands of homes. Four people were killed in eastern Romania. In the Czech Republic, 51,000 households in the country’s northern areas were evacuated. Flood barriers have gone up in the capital Prague. Poland evacuated people from Glucholazy, a town near the Czech border, after a river burst its banks.

Extreme precipitation is becoming more likely in Europe, as across much of the world, due to climate change. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, which can lead to heavier rainfall.

“We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said.

These flood victims face another peril. Floods greatly increase the risk of diarrheal disease along with other waterborne, water-related, and communicable diseases. Diarrheal pathogens—cholera, E. coliShigella, rotavirus, norovirus, Cryptosporidium, and others—can spread through direct contact with floodwater itself or through compromised water sources.

Standing water left by flooding can become a breeding ground for mosquitos that carry pathogens. Communicable diseases can spread like wildfire through refugee and evacuation shelters.

Sources:

Central Europe floods: Rush to shore up flood defences amid deaths and evacuations (bbc.com)

After the floods: Diarrheal disease threats lurk behind natural disasters (defeatdd.org)

Zika Cases in Pune, India, Reach 100, Five Deaths Reported

Pune continues to grapple with an increasing number of Zika virus cases, as the total number of patients in the city has now reached 100. The most affected area in Pune is Dahanukar Colony, which has recorded 20 cases, followed by Erandwane with 16. The five Zika-related deaths involved elderly individuals with pre-existing health conditions.

The virus is transmitted by daytime flying Aedes, or “tiger mosquitos.” An invasive species, Aedes is now found on all continents except Antarctica.

Alarmingly, 45 of these patients are pregnant women. Zika can cause birth defects in newborn babies.

Dr. Rajesh Dighe, Assistant Health Officer at Pune Municipal Corporation, provided updates on the situation, noting that efforts to control the spread of the Zika virus are ongoing. This recent spike in Zika cases follows a series of warnings from health authorities, who had anticipated a possible outbreak. The city is now facing increased pressure to manage the outbreak, particularly as the number of pregnant women affected by the virus grows.

On top of this, medical staff in Pune hospitals are dealing with an acute blood shortage.

Sources:

Zika Cases in Pune Reach 100, Five Deaths Reported | The Bridge Chronicle

Blood Shortage Hits Pune Amid Rising Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya Cases | The Bridge Chronicle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedes

Donald Trump Confuses Nicky Jam for a Woman Ahead of Latin Star’s Endorsement Speech in Las Vegas

Former president Donald Trump held a campaign rally at the World Market Center in downtown Las Vegas, where Nicky Jam, a 43-year-old male reggaetón veteran took the stage to show his support for the GOP candidate. But in an inter-galactically embarrassing faux pas, the ex-POTUS mistakenly referred to Nicky as a ‘she‘ when introducing him to the crowd.

“Do you know Nicky? She’s hot. Where’s Nicky. As the male singer approaches the stage, Trump then says, “Oh, look, I’m glad he came up.”

Nicky Jam, wearing a black sweatshirt and a red ‘Make America Great Again’ baseball cap, then took the stage to deliver a brief statement.

Artist Art Candee wrote, “Guess Donald Trump doesn’t know what a woman is…” and Team Kamala mocked the former president by posting a video of the flub on social media:

“Trump: Latin music superstar Nicky Jam. Do you know Nicky? She’s hot (Nicky Jam is a man),” the campaign wrote.

This is just one of a series of imbecilic comments and gaffes that Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance have made during the 2024 campaign. Political analysts, as well as his niece Mary Trump (a professional psychologist), have been raising alarms about the mental fitness of this elderly man who could be Commander-in-Chief of the world’s most powerful, and nuclear-armed, military.    

Source:

Donald Trump Confuses Nicky Jam for Woman at Las Vegas Rally (billboard.com)

Endangered Cotton-Top Tamarin Triplets Born at Disney World

Three infant cotton-top tamarins are perched atop the back of one of their parents Saturday shortly after their birth at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. They are the second set of the critically endangered tamarins to be born at the resort this year. (Photo courtesy Walt Disney World)

The second set of critically endangered cotton-top tamarin triplets to be born this year at Walt Disney World have arrived.

The three tiny primates were born at Animal Kingdom’s Discovery Island on Saturday and are bonding with their parents and siblings. An earlier batch of the small-but-powerful monkeys were born there in January.

Weighing only one pound in adulthood, the cotton-top tamarin is found in the rain forests of northwestern Colombia. They are known for their sophisticated social behaviors and have demonstrated evidence of simple grammatical capabilities.

Despite their small stature, their athletic capabilities are impressive — they can leap 15 feet from a stationary branch — while their appearance is highlighted by a wild mane of bright-white hair atop their heads.

The male and female parents of newborn tamarins share infant care equally, carrying their young on their backs until approximately 14 weeks of age.

An estimated 6,000 cotton-top tamarins remain in the wild, making them one of the rarest primates in the world. Disney World says it is working with organizations such as Proyecto Titi in Colombia to help protect the species through its Disney Conservation Fund.

Source:

New set of endangered cotton-top tamarin triplets born at Disney World – UPI.com

Heads of CIA and MI6 Issue Joint Public Call for Ceasefire in Gaza

CIA Director William Burns (L) and MI6 Chief Richard Moore (R) said their agencies had “exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation” in the Middle East.

In an opinion piece for the Financial Times (linked below), the two spymasters said a ceasefire in Israel’s Gaza war “could end the suffering and appalling loss of life of Palestinian civilians and bring home the hostages after 11 months of hellish confinement.”

Burns has been heavily involved in efforts to broker an end to the Israeli war, travelling to Egypt in August for high-level talks aimed at bringing about a captive release deal and at least a temporary halt to the conflict.Burns said ending the war would require “some hard choices and some political compromises” from both Israel and Hamas.

The US and the UK are both staunch allies of Israel, though London diverged from Washington by suspending some arms exports to Israel because of the risk they could be used to break international law.

Burns and Moore stressed the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship in the face of “an unprecedented array of threats,” including an assertive Russia, an ever-more powerful China, and the constant threat from international terrorism.

Nota Bene: When the two heads of Western intelligence make a public joint appeal, we should heed their good counsel. CIA and MI6 have access to a mountain of classified information A-to-Z about all the players and activities in the region derived from signals intercepts, HUMINT sources, satellite imagery, low-level informants, defectors, diplomatic cables, and simple wiretaps. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Cabinet should heed this joint communique.

Sources:

Bill Burns and Richard Moore: Intelligence partnership helps the US and UK stay ahead in an uncertain world (ft.com)

Heads of the CIA and MI6 issue joint call for a ceasefire in Gaza – War on Gaza – War on Gaza – Ahram Online

Organized Crime Increasingly Uses Commercial, Cargo Flights to Move Drugs, Arms, Gold

According to a report by risk intelligence company Osprey Flight Solutions (OFS), transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) have been increasingly using commercial and cargo flights in Latin America to move drugs, arms, and gold. OFS analyzed post-incident alerts between Feb 2021 to Feb 2024 on the seizure of illicit goods with connections to the US, Europe, and Africa.

For example, on 4 Jul Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) arrested a Chinese citizen attempting to board a flight bound for Hong Kong with 17 gold bars in coffee bags. Following his arrest, the PF found that the man was involved in another similar seizure on 8 May with a kg of gold. In 2023, Colombian antinarcotics found 1.5 tons of cocaine inside a shipment of 57 boxes containing vegetables and apples in a cargo aircraft bound for the US.

Data shows that alerts generated at Latin American airports, in warehouses, and aboard aircraft, increased by 147 percent between 2021 and 2023, with the highest numbers in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia.

Brazil recorded the highest number of seizures: 1,737. The incidents mainly had to do with gold and drug trafficking. According to the PF regarding drug seizures (cocaine, marijuana, skunk, ecstasy, amphetamine, and methamphetamine) at Brazilian airports, the amount jumped from 4.4 tons in 2021 to 9.8 tons in 2023, an increase of more than 120 percent.

Although the increase in alerts coincides with the return to normality of international flights, following the removal of COVID-19 travel restrictions, the data reflects greater international drug flow and demand.

Thiago Moreira de Souza Rodrigues, a security researcher from Fluminense Federal University in Rio de Janeiro says that “Global air traffic has grown a lot in the last three decades. So, surveillance, whether by radiometry, physical surveillance, dogs, in short, specialized personnel, is very complicated, always done by samples. Even if some drug shipments are seized, the volume that passes through is much greater than what is seized in the surveillance networks. In air traffic, although it is smaller and more spread out, shipments are multiplied by the large number of air routes and flows. If you take airports like the world’s major hubs, there are thousands of flights a week.”

TCOs use many methods to smuggle drugs and other illicit goods via air routes. Common tactics include placing goods in hidden compartments built into legal shipments, setting up export companies to conceal illegal shipments, corrupting airport authorities, and using smugglers who transport the goods on their flights.

“Since the golden age when drug trafficking began as a transnational economy, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, commercial air travel has always been used, and basically for the same reason, the link between airport employees on the ground, the logistical maintenance of the airport itself, the airlines, in short, the yield is so high that many people take the risk,” InSight Crime said in a report.

Mexico registered 700 alerts during the period studied, highlighting the flow of synthetic drugs via domestic flights from Culicán and Querétaro to cities on the US-Mexico border, such as Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez. Colombia, which came in third place with 488 alerts, recorded cocaine as the most common substance trafficked via air cargo through Bogotá, San Andrés Island, and on to Belgium, France, the UK, and Australia. Alerts at Colombian airports increased by 275 percent between Feb 2021 to Feb 2024.

According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC), only two percent of containers that travel around the world by air, sea, roads, and railways, are adequately inspected to detect contraband.

Sources:

Organized Crime Increasingly Uses Commercial, Cargo Flights to Move Drugs, Arms, Gold – Diálogo Américas (dialogo-americas.com)

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (unodc.org)

InSight Crime – Investigation and Analysis of Organized Crime

Indonesia Arrests Seven Over Pope Francis ‘Terror Threats’

A security detail of approximately 4,000 personnel, including snipers, soldiers, police and his personal security team of Swiss Guards, protected the Pope before he departed for the rest of his trip in Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore. Roads around key sites were re-routed or closed.

Indonesia arrested seven people for making online “terror threats” against Pope Francis during his visit to the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country this week. The 87-year-old pontiff made Southeast Asia’s biggest economy the first stop of an arduous Asia-Pacific tour, delivering a message of religious unity to counter extremism and intolerance.

Indonesia’s elite counter-terrorism unit Densus 88 arrested the suspects in Jakarta, West Sumatra, and Bangka. They are accused of posting statements and images online that threatened bomb attacks on the pope’s public meetings in Jakarta.

The first Jesuit pontiff’s schedule had included visits to Southeast Asia’s biggest mosque, Jakarta’s cathedral, the presidential palace, and the national football stadium.

Fortunately, no serious terrorist plots were exposed. Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an al-Qaida-linked terror group, was rendered ineffective years ago. Ji was responsible for the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, the deadliest attacks in the country’s history.

In Papua New Guinea, a country that has struggled with tribal conflicts throughout its history, Pope Francis made a heartfelt appeal for peace. Earlier this year, 26 people were killed in a gunfight in Enga Province, a region that has been plagued by violence between tribal groups.

Sources:

Indonesia Arrests Seven Over Pope Francis ‘Terror Threats’ (hngn.com)

Pope Francis to Papua New Guinea: Protect nature, end tribal violence, embrace diversity | Catholic News Agency

Jemaah Islamiyah – Wikipedia

Missouri Reports First Confirmed Case of Avian Flu in Human; US Total Now 14

Missouri reported its first confirmed human case of bird flu in a person who reported no exposure to animals. The case brings the national total to 14 so far this year. The latest case in Missouri was in an adult with underlying medical conditions. He was hospitalized on 22 Aug and has since recovered.

“The patient has reported no exposure to animals,” the Missouri health department said. The information is preliminary and would require further investigation by health authorities.

The case of bird flu, also known as H5, was initially detected through the state’s normal influenza surveillance testing program. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also confirmed it to be a human case of the H5 subtype of flu.

Source:

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/missouri-reports-first-human-case-bird-flu-in-state/story?id=113474247

Enlisted US Sailor Detained in Venezuela as Tensions Between the Two Countries Simmer

Undated photo of Venezuelan riot police detaining a protestor. Image: European Pressphoto Agency

An enlisted American sailor was detained by authorities in Venezuela and being held incommunicado. The sailor was “not authorized to travel, on official travel or approved leave” when he was detained. The State Department is working with the Venezuelan authorities to secure the sailor’s release.

The news of the sailor’s detention also comes just days after the Department of Justice announced the seizure of a private jet that was used by Venezuela’s leader, President Nicolás Maduro.

The sailor’s detention, which was first reported by CNN, seems to be the latest in a series of events that has showcased the growing tensions between the US and Venezuela. Those tensions have been building since Venezuela’s 28 July election between Maduro and Edmundo González, which officials from several countries say was stolen by Maduro.

The State Department has long warned US citizens not to travel to Venezuela, citing “a high risk of wrongful detention.”The travel warning also notes that Venezuela’s “security forces have detained US citizens for up to five years” and the US “is not generally notified of the detention of AMCITs in Venezuela or granted access to them.”

The unnamed sailor is just the latest in a string of service members to find themselves in the jail of a hostile nation after failing to heed travel warnings.

In May 2024, SSG Gordon Black was arrested in Russia and has been in prison there ever since. PVT Travis King drew international attention in July 2023 when he left a tour group and dashed across the Demilitarized Zone into North Korea, which detained him for about two months.

Source:

Enlisted US Sailor Detained in Venezuela as Tensions Between the 2 Countries Simmer | Military.com

US Egg Recall: Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Illnesses in Nine States

salmonella outbreak linked to eggs sold in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois has resulted in 24 hospitalizations and 65 illnesses in nine states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

The egg recall reported Friday applies to Milo’s Poultry Farms and Tony’s Fresh Market eggs including those labeled cage-free or organic.

Food recalls have reached a peak the US hasn’t approached since before the COVID-19 pandemic, an April report found. Recalled food products led to 1,100 sickened people and six dead in 2023, per the US Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.

People have been reported sick in California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin, where most cases have been reported.

Symptoms of salmonella — including diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps — typically begin six hours to six days following infection, and most of those infected recover without treatment within a week. Children younger than five years, adults 65 years and older, and people with weakened immune systems may experience more severe illnesses that require medical treatment or hospitalization.

Sources:

Egg recall: Salmonella outbreak linked to illnesses in 9 states (axios.com)

Despite Warnings, Sarajevo Police Use Controversial Chinese-Made Body Cameras

Sarajevo police officers from the traffic unit wear Hytera body cams at a press event for the launch of the pilot program on 1 July. D/CIA William Burns recently visited Sarajevo and presumably advised his Bosnian counterpart of the perils associated with Chinese technology.

Amid a growing push for transparency, Sarajevo police have chosen to use body cameras from a controversial Chinese company that is under scrutiny in Canada and the EU and blacklisted in the US over national security concerns.

Despite those warnings, which also include charges from the US Justice Department of industrial espionage, the Sarajevo Canton’s Interior Ministry decided to purchase 200 police body cams in 2023 from Hytera, a partially state-owned Chinese manufacturer, for a pilot program launched on 1 July.

This local-level episode comes amid an evolving conversation across Europe over the use of Chinese telecommunications equipment in government programs. While the US has been the strictest — banning surveillance cameras and other equipment made by Chinese giants like Huawei, ZTE, Dahua, and Hikvision — European governments like Britain, Germany, France, and the Baltic states are also updating their procurement systems amid growing probes into security risks caused by Chinese firms.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina and elsewhere across the Balkans, budget-conscious governments have increasingly turned to affordable Chinese equipment with little public debate about the potential security implications.

In the case of the 200,000-euro ($222,000) sale of the police body cams — small video cameras worn by an officer to record arrests and provide evidence from crime scenes — Sarajevo Canton Interior Minister Admir Katica has not said publicly that the equipment is made by Hytera or that the company has been blacklisted in the US and is under increased scrutiny.

Unidentified Chinese military computer installation. Source: “Chinese Hackers Persist in Attacking US Networks” by Bill Gertz, 2 Oct 2012. Chinese intelligence services, including the MSS, have the manpower and computers to conduct massive worldwide surveillance and hack Western networks.

Sources:

Sarajevo Police Use Controversial Chinese-Made Body Cams, Despite Warnings (rferl.org)

https://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist

American Warzone: Junior Sailor Fatally Shot in San Diego; Multiple People Shot Near Lexington, KY

18-year-old sailor Albert Lee Soto died Saturday after being shot in San Diego, according to the US Navy and police. He was assigned to the destroyer Pinckney. Police received reports at 12:49 a.m. of shots fired in San Diego’s East Village neighborhood, and a responding officer found Soto suffering from at least one gunshot wound. After CPR was administered at the scene, Soto was transported to a local hospital and died from his wounds shortly after.

Soto was involved in an altercation with a group of men inside a nearby nightclub before the shooting, but detectives have not confirmed whether the two incidents involving the sailor are related. The suspects in Soto’s shooting are described as four Black males wearing dark clothing who were last seen running eastbound on F Street.

Individuals with pertinent information are urged to contact the San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

To the east, a manhunt is underway for 32-year-old Joseph A. Couch, suspected in shooting at least five people along Interstate 75 in a rural area south of Lexington, KY. All the victims are in stable condition. The Kentucky State Police urged people to stay indoors as the suspect is “armed and dangerous.”

Joseph A. Couch is “armed and dangerous.” (Imagery: NBC News)

State Firearms Data:

Kentucky: 108,833 firearms licenses reported; 54.6% of adults have firearms at home. In average year, 728 people die and 1,036 are wounded by guns in the Bluegrass State.

California: 406,360 firearms licenses reported; an estimated 28.3% of adults have guns in their homes. In an average year, 3,299 people die by guns in the Golden State.

EveryStat – EveryStat.org

Junior sailor fatally shot in San Diego (militarytimes.com)

Multiple people shot near Kentucky highway, ‘armed and dangerous’ person of interest ID’d (nbcnews.com)

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says a shooting has occurred on Interstate 75 – Washington Times

4. California – Gun map: Ownership by state – statistics and rates (cbsnews.com)

British Four-Year-Old Heroine Uses Amazon Alexa to Save Mom During Epileptic Fit‌ ‌

Lyla Leathem with a trophy and certificate for helping her mother. (LEAH BIGGS VIA SWNS)

When her mother suffered an epileptic seizure on 25 Aug, quick-thinking Lyla Leathem ran upstairs and asked Alexa to call her great-grandmother after she was unable to unlock her mother’s phone. Lyla explained to her great-grandmother that her mother had “a big fit” in the night and bitten her tongue. Lyla’s great-grandmother then rushed over from her home and helped stay-at-home mother Leah Leathem. She was treated at her home and recovered.

Family members had previously shown Lyla how to use Alexa for phone calls as her mom often suffers from nocturnal seizures which can be “life-threatening.” But they had no idea the youngster had listened – until she was called into action.

Proud Leah Leathem with quick-thinking Lyla. (LEAH BIGGS VIA SWNS)

Sources:

4-Year-Old Hero Uses Amazon Alexa To Save Mom During Epileptic Fit‌ ‌ – MEA Magazine

Ex-US Green Beret Linked to Attempted 2020 Venezuelan Coup

Venezuelan forces captured several mercenaries after the failed 2020 coup [Getty Images]

Jordan Goudreau, a decorated former US Green Beret, is being prosecuted for allegedly smuggling automatic weapons from Florida to South America as part of a failed 2020 coup attempt against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. His DNA was found on some of 60 recovered weapons, linking him to illegal arms trafficking that facilitated an amphibious raid against the Maduro government in Venezuela.  

Several fighters were killed and two of Goudreau’s former US Special Forces colleagues were imprisoned in Venezuela. Goudreau allegedly spent $90,000 on a yacht he used to transport ammunition, body armor plates and magazines for AR-15 rifles. Some of the weapons never made it because the yacht sank in the middle of the Caribbean. Goudreau and an unnamed associate had to be rescued by a passing natural gas tanker.

The 2020 anti-Maduro incursion was carried out by a ragtag group of Venezuelan army deserters whom Goudreau allegedly helped arm and train in neighboring Colombia. Goudreau later claimed responsibility for the putsch, but said he was acting in concert with the Venezuelan opposition to protect democracy. The defendant stated he was in touch with then-President Donald Trump’s administration, which made no secret of its desire to see Maduro gone, even though there’s no evidence US officials approved the invasion.

The 48-year-old has no criminal record and was a three-time Bronze Star recipient in Iraq and Afghanistan, but prosecutors argued he was both a danger to the public and a flight risk because of his firearms expertise, access to a sailboat at a USAF base in Tampa and an astonishing $10,000-a-month in military retirement disability income. If convicted, Goudreau faces between 10 and 20 years in prison.

Sources:

Middle District of Florida | Former Green Beret and Venezuelan National Charged with Violating Export and Firearms Laws | United States Department of Justice

US arrests a former Green Beret over the failed 2020 raid into Venezuela to remove Maduro | AP News

DNA on weapons implicates ex-U.S. Green Beret in attempted Venezuelan coup, federal officials say | AP News

FBI Arrests DoD Contractor with Scores of Classified Documents

Gokhan Gun, an electrical engineer and DoD contractor, was arrested by the FBI following a court-ordered search warrant of his home in Falls Church, VA. Investigators became aware that while working for the USAF in Washington, Mr. Gun had printed thousands of documents since starting his job in mid-2023. Many documents were unclassified, but some were marked Top Secret. Mr. Gun printed 256 documents, totaling approximately 3,400 pages. He then printed more than 406 pages of documents, which included 82 with Top Secret headings. Mr. Gun is charged with illegally obtaining and retaining national defense secrets.

Investigators are still trying to determine why Mr. Gun, who became an American citizen in 2021, hoarded so many documents. He nonchalantly carried them out of his office in rolled-up wads in plastic shopping bags. Mr. Gun frequently travels overseas and owns homes in Virginia, Texas and Florida. The FBI arrested the suspect early in the morning at his house while Mr. Gun was preparing to leave for what he described as a “fishing trip” with friends in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The counterintelligence investigation is continuing.

Source:

Defense Dept. Contractor Arrested With Dozens of Classified Documents – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Fire at Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant in Occupied Ukraine, but Officials Say Safety Not Compromised

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said radiation indicators appeared normal for the plant.

The brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine established a new precedent. For the first time in history, a nuclear power plant has been occupied by a hostile foreign power. Russian forces took over the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant early during Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” against Ukraine. Worldwide concerns skyrocketed about potential radiation leaks or fallout from any mishap at the atomic plant.

A fire broke out on 11 August at a cooling tower at this nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine following what Russian officials allege was Ukrainian shelling, which Kiev denied. Plant management reported the fire was still blazing but that it was not endangering the safe operation of the facility. Ukrainian officials disclosed there was unofficial information or rumors that Russian forces had set fire to a large number of automobile tires in the cooling towers.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has access to the site and reported no impact on nuclear safety. Along with the EU Joint Research Center, they are monitoring radiation levels in a potentially catastrophic situation for Europe, Ukraine, and Russia.

Sources:

Zelenskiy / Official – Telegram

Update 241 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine | IAEA

Radiological Maps – European Commission (europa.eu)Fire Hits Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant, But Officials Say Safety Not Compromised (rferl.org)

Ex-POTUS Donald J. Trump Losing Support from Within: ‘You’re gonna lose this!’

Mr. David McAfee at Raw Story reports that Donald Trump is getting pushback on his latest conspiracy theory from his own MAGA supporters. The former president claimed that VPOTUS Kamala Harris was faking her huge crowd sizes by using AI. The claim was ranked as “just false” by CNN, and one lawmaker said this comment made Trump unfit to be president. When Trump posted this absurd claim on Truth Social, some of his own supporters encouraged the GOP presidential nominee to back off.

Raw Story catalogued the following MAGA criticisms:

@Trumpbobo: “You realized that there is a video right that so otherwise shows.”

@Gobbyrocks: “It’s not fake, Trump. Please fire your disastrous advisors immediately before we lose this election!”

@Magahlahgo: “Are you ever going to talk about what you plan on doing if you win? Nobody cares about her crowds.”

@Cordlopez: “Please shut the f— up and get focused.”

@Witness023: “No. Consult with a good expert on this. They are going to make us look dumb.”

@Deplorable59: “STFU about the crowd size. She’s getting bigger crowds now face that fact. You’re gonna lose this! Stop with this bulls— – get out on the road. Talk to the people-don’t talk about her personally. Talk about the issues and what you will do to change things. You’re our only hope – you gotta stop screwing it up!”

Karlyn Borysenko: “I want you to win but you have got to start hinging back into reality and stop listening to anyone who lies to you about Kamala’s campaign. This is a video that aired live of the event. It is real. The photos are being generated from a parody account.”

Conservative influencer Ian Miles Cheong: “Kamala’s crowd at the airport was in fact real,” he wrote. “You can claim they’re paid actors or that they were just there for a concert but they are definitely not AI.”

Our deepest appreciation to Mr. David McAfee at Raw Story for monitoring Truth Social and presenting his findings.

Source:

‘You’re gonna lose this!’ Trump fans rebel against him over ‘A.I.’ Harris rally claim – Raw Story

Five Suspects Arrested for Rocket Attack on al-Asad Air Base in Iraq

Iraqi security personnel detained five individuals in connection with a rocket attack on al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq that wounded four US servicemembers and a defense contractor. Three rockets were launched by an Iranian-backed militia, two of which impacted the base, while the third rocket was intercepted. US CENTCOM is investigating how the rockets penetrated defense measures. See map at bottom.

The attack is the latest targeting al-Asad Air Base in recent weeks. On 25 July, two rockets were launched but did not strike the base. On 16 July, the base came under attack by two drones, one of which struck the base but caused minimal damage. The second drone launched in the same attack was shot down. No casualties were reported following either attack.

US bases in the region are prone to retaliatory strikes by pro-Iranian Shia militias whenever Israel attacks Iranian sovereign territory with rockets or drones or conducts extra-judicial killings (XJK) in Iran, Syria, or Lebanon. Shia Houthis on the Arabian Peninsula in support of their co-religionists in Iran similarly retaliate against maritime Western targets that may be allied or associated with Israel.

This last rocket attack followed an order by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to move additional warships and a fighter squadron to the Middle East to bolster Israel’s defense. The decision to move US forces came ahead of an anticipated Iranian counterattack in response to the Israeli assassination of Palestinian resistance leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Source:

5 arrested for rocket attack on base in Iraq that injured 4 service members, 1 contractor | Stars and Stripes

“Absolute loyalty’: Xi Jinping Focuses Anti-Corruption Campaign on China’s Military

Xi Jinping has unleashed a new campaign to enforce party discipline and root out corruption in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), in a sign that the Chinese leader’s decade-long push to exert tight personal control over the armed forces has fallen short.

The Central Military Commission, China’s top military leadership organ which Xi chairs, called for the establishment of an “early warning mechanism for integrity risks in the military” and announced a probe into corruption in equipment procurement going back almost six years.

The renewed campaign to root out corruption comes as several top officers of the PLA’s Rocket Force, which oversees the country’s nuclear and conventional missile arsenals, have disappeared from public view — often a signal of an investigation. China’s former foreign minister Qin Gang was absent from public commitments for a month before he was replaced by his predecessor.

According to Cercius, a Canada-based consultancy tracking elite Chinese politics, the status of about 10 current and former Rocket Force officials is unclear. Rod Lee, a leading expert on the PLA Rocket Force at the USAF Academy suggested the possibility that some, if not all, of these individuals were “rolled up for discipline or corruption.”

In an unprecedented move in 2022, China extradited Yanjun Xu, a senior operative in the Ministry of State Security (MSS) to the US. He is the first Chinese intelligence officer ever to be extradited to America to stand trial. Xu targeted US aviation companies, recruited employees to travel to China, and solicited their proprietary information, stealing advanced technology on behalf of Beijing.

The 42-year-old veteran spy was eventually convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Yanjun Xu (USM #77877-061) is incarcerated at Otisville FCI New York, and scheduled to be released 16 April 2035.

Sources:

‘Absolute loyalty’: Xi Jinping turns anti-corruption focus to China’s military (ft.com)

Office of Public Affairs | Chinese Government Intelligence Officer Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Espionage Crimes, Attempting to Steal Trade Secrets From Cincinnati Company | United States Department of Justice

Approximately 320 US military personnel are assigned to al-Asad Airbase alongside 9,000 or so Iraqi airmen and soldiers. Denmark and Norway maintain a combined contingency of 190 personnel.